I'm over it, so I'm good, right?

"In the twelth place, the Word of God is not rightly divided when the preacher tries to make people believe that they are truly converted as soon as they have become rid of certain vices and engage in certain works of piety and virtuous practices."  C. F. W. Walther, Thesis 16

"If they really believed, they would be more regular in worship."  "If you want to be a Christian, you have to stop being homosexual."  "If you were really a Christian, you wouldn't curse so much."  "If you were really a Christian, then pornography wouldn't be an issue."  "All you have to do to become Christian is to say this prayer of repentance and ask Jesus into your heart as your personal Savior."

If you have heard any of the above phrases, or anything similar to them, you have heard someone speaking a message of the Good News that simply is not true.  As people, really the only way we can look to see what lies in a person's heart is by looking at their outward actions.  However, that really is a poor display of what someone really believes.  Yes, certain elements of what we believe will reveal themselves in how we live, but we humans are also remarkably good at doing things that don't really fit what we believe.

When we get right down to it, a Christian is a person who believes that Jesus has redeemed them from the sin and fallenness of this world.  In other words, it really is about the One in whom they put their trust and hope.  That means, also, that it isn't necessarily a reflection of their outward actions.  That also means that we cannot tell someone that they are converted to Christ simply because they stop doing sinful actions and start doing faith-related actions.

Yet, that is an untruth that pervades the Christian faith.  After all, the only thing we can really see as humans is another person's outward actions.  We cannot see their heart to know what they believe.  We cannot see their thoughts to know what they are thinking.  We can't see their relationship with God in Christ Jesus.  So we judge based on what we can see with our eyes, which means that we judge based on something that can easily disguise where a person's heart truly is.

Yes, once a person is in Christ, we strive to have them give up sinful habits and practices, and to take on those which reflect God's will and design for life.  However, that is a result of faith.  That is not a condition of faith.  We cannot say a person is more faithful because they ceased some action or habit that is deemed sinful.  We cannot say that a person is more faithful because they suddenly started becoming more engaged in the practices of other Christians. 

In the end, that's why the message of Good News that we bring to the world truly is that God has chosen to redeem them in Jesus.  We simply cannot say that they have only received this when they stop doing certain things and start doing certain other things.  It's good news, not good actions.  May our Christian witness, then, be that others are redeemed, not by the changing of what they do, but by trusting in the one who suffered and died for them.

You Betta Get Right, Now, Ya Hear?

"In the eleventh place, the Word of God is not righly divided when the Gospel is turned into a preaching of repentance."  C. F. W. Walther, Thesis 15

I cannot recall if I have stated this before in this series on these theses about God's Law and God's Gospel, but the literal meaning of the word "evangel" is Good News.  This is the word that gets translated as Gospel quite frequently.  In other words, the Gospel message is a message of Good News.  When we engage in evangelism, we share the evangel, the good news, with people.

Now, to make it painfully clear, that means that we speak a message which is Good News to people.  We tell them that they do not need to fear God's wrath, since God poured out His wrath on Jesus.  We tell people that God has chosen to spare them and rescue them, doing so through Jesus and what all Jesus' life, death, and resurrection accomplished for us.

Notice in that previous paragraph that there is something that is missing that so often forces its way into our evangelism, our sharing of the Good News.  There is nothing in there about a person changing their ways.  There is nothing in there about conforming to or obeying God's Law.  Yes, that was quite intentionally done.  The message of Good News is not a message about obeying God's Law.  It is a message that someone else has done that fully for them.

So often we get this mixed up.  We may not come right out and say it, but the expectation is often there that people will get their act together to be part of God's forgiven people.  In other words, they have to repent in order to receive God's forgiveness and be part of God's people.  To be quite blunt, that is far from the truth.  All they need to be God's forgiven people is to believe that God has forgiven them in Jesus.  That's the Good News, for us, and for them!

Yes, there is a proper place and role for repentance.  But it is not included in the receiving of the Good News.  Truthfully, it is a journey that comes after we believe in what God has done for us in Jesus, and quite literally consumes the rest of our life.  We never get it right, no matter how much effort we may make. 

So, next time you find yourself wanting to tell someone to get their act together to be part of God's people, or to receive His Good News, keep in mind that the Good News is completely that: Good News for them.  Changing their behavior or attitude comes after they receive that Good News, not as part of the way that they receive the Good News.